1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to towel warming devices and, particularly, to a towel warmer cabinet that warms towels with hot water moving through a coil using passive energy only.
2. Background of the Invention
Typical towel warming cabinets have chambers with fans or blower motors contained therein and also have air intake and exhaust vents, or re-circulate air. Most of these devices are complex, having moving parts and electric heating elements. These devices are constructed in this manner because hanging towels or towels resting on a shelf or platform contain a substantial amount of air and do not conduct heat satisfactorily. Unless there is a vigorous airflow around and through the towel, the towel will become warm only in certain areas and not uniformly. Heat through radiation alone is consistently less effective than with an air flow mechanism. An alternative device is one which can sandwich a towel between several electric heating plates. This type of device is also complex and requires electric power.
The present invention is a cabinet which warms towels or other cloth-like materials, such as clothes, linens, etc. by compressing the materials against coils heated by hot water. The cabinet has top, bottom, side, and rear walls which define a chamber or enclosure therein. A door is hinged to the front of the chamber and opens and closes the frontal entry to the chamber. When the door is closed, the chamber is completely enclosed with no venting. The cabinet has one or more coils located on the rear wall within the chamber. The coil is connected in series with a hot water supply so that hot water flows through the coil before exiting a hot water faucet. The portion of the door that faces the chamber and coil when the door is closed has a compressible resilient support which presses a towel or the like against the coil, when the door is latched. The support presses the towel with sufficient pressure to compress the towel against the coil so that there are no air pockets within the towel and heat is, thus, transferred rapidly and uniformly from the coil to the towel as hot water is running through the coil.
An advantage of the present invention is an inexpensive towel warmer that is simple to construct.
Another advantage of the present invention is a towel warmer that uses passive energy to heat towels by using only the hot water used during bathing.
Another advantage of the present invention is a towel warmer with no moving parts.
Another advantage of the present invention is a towel warmer with no risk of electric shock.
Another advantage of the present invention is a towel warmer that may be inset within a wall of a room or shower stall.
Another advantage of the present invention is a towel warmer that compresses a towel against a heat coil so that the towel is heated rapidly and uniformly.